Nyckoles Harbor shows off jersey number for freshman season at South Carolina

One of the most tantalizing freshman in all of college football gave a little teaser for his freshman season on Saturday as South Carolina’s Nyckoles Harbor showed off his new jersey number. After wearing No. 7 during his senior season in high school, the freshman and former five-star will be sporting No. 8 for the Gamecocks this fall.

An almost unparalleled athlete in the 2023 signing class, Harbor is 6-foot-5 and around 225 pounds. He has top-flight track speed and projects to play as a supersized wideout for South Carolina.

And the Gamecocks shiny new offensive weapon posted a picture of himself sporting the garnet home jersey with white pants and helmet. It’s a sight South Carolina fans probably can’t wait to see on the field at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Harbor, playing at Archbishop Carroll (D.C.) High School, was the No. 21 overall prospect in the country according to the On3 Industry Ranking and was the top athlete prospect. He chose South Carolina over the likes of Oregon, Michigan and Maryland, and also intends to run track while in college.

Harbor is already working on the transition to receiver for South Carolina

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound track star from Washington D.C. played everywhere in high school, but he’s relatively light on experience at receiver, where the Gamecocks plan to start him.

“We’re fortunate that he did that a little bit obviously in high school, it’s not like he’s never caught the ball or run a route or played receiver before,” Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer said. “So he’s got a baseline from that standpoint. He’s got obviously great athletic ability and instincts, so that helps. That’s what you can’t coach.”

It’s hard to find 10.3 speed in the 100-meter dash period. It’s infinitely harder to find it in a guy who is Harbor’s size.

That could potentially make him an absolute matchup nightmare on offense, particularly with a more seasoned quarterback who now knows the South Carolina system fairly well. You can bet Spencer Rattler will be itching to try out his new target to see what he can do.

First, though, Nyckoles Harbor’s transition to receiver must begin in earnest. That will take a lot of work.

“Justin Stepp and our offensive coaches will be able to really work with him individually and directly from a mental and physical standpoint, getting him ready for practice, which is something that we weren’t able to do in recent years,” Beamer said. “So between all of that, getting him out there, and again, we never want to do anything with a player that he can’t do, but Nyck is really athletic and instinctive and he’ll be fine making that transition.”